Chaos of the Opera
by Lady Calipso
Summary: Welcome to Phantom of the Opera Final Fantasy VII style where the classic story is told with characters and themes from the world of Final Fantasy 7. Most of the tale is based on Andrew Lloyd Weber's musical, but contains some themes from the original book.
1. Chapter 1

The Midgar opera house was bustling as everyone prepared for the upcoming show. The cleaning crew prepped and polished the theater for the attendees while the performers rehearsed their routines to entertain in tonight's performance. This show will be a special one, for this will be the first performance under the house's new managers, Cloud Strife and Barret Wallace, and their sponsor the Vicomte de Chagny, Zack Fair.

"Right this way, gentlemen," spoke Reeve Tuesti, the former manager. He was escorting his successors along with Barret's daughter, Marlene, who was sitting on his shoulders. "As you can see everyone is preparing for tonight's show."

The performers were going through their parts fairly smoothly until the lead actress exploded,"No! I cannot work under these conditions!"

"Rosso, please," Reeve pleaded, "Not in front of the new managers." The one called Rosso glanced at the men he was referring to. "How about you give us a demonstration of your solo."

"Alright." She gave a small smile then began to utter sounds that mimicked singing. In response, Marlene covered her ears. She was not the only one who disapproved as a curtain fell onto the woman. Barret quickly set his daughter down and rushed to help Cloud and Reeve free the woman.

"It's him. The Phantom of the Opera," said Tifa Lockhart, a ballerina, to her peers, Yuffie Kisaragi and Aerith Gainsborough.

"The Phantom! I met him once," Yuffie said dreamily. "One night I was exploring the halls near the chapel when I saw him. He's really tall and has really long hair and wears a raggedy red cloak and…" she stopped herself once she caught her friends looking at her incredulously.

At the scene where the curtain fell, the men had extricated Rosso. Reeve looked up at the catwalk where Reno was.

"I don't know. I wasn't at my post yo," Reno said before Reeve could ask. "Maybe it was the opera ghost."

"The opera ghost! The heck are ya talking about," demanded Barret.

Just then Lucrecia Crescent, the head of the ballet troupe, approached the group with a letter in her hand.

"Ah, Lucrecia," Reeve began, "Please tell me you have some good news."

She shook her head. "I have a letter from Vin… I mean the Phantom." She opened the letter and began to explain it. "The Phantom welcomes you to his opera house. He asks that you keep box 5 empty for his use. His salary is due. Chaos will see to that all his requests are satisfied."

"That's it!" erupted the crimson haired diva. "I'm out of here!"

"Rosso, please," begged Reeve.

"No! Too many accidents and nothing is done about them! Good bye!" She stormed out of the theater.

"Well I think it's about high time I head off," stated Reeve. "If you need me, I'll be in Costa Del Sol."

"Great, now what do we do?" said Barret. Lucrecia shrugged.

"The Phantom's salary?" asked Cloud.

"Reeve left him fifty thousand gil each month," answered Lucrecia.

The managers' eyes widened. "Fifty thousand gil!" they exclaimed in unison.

"First Rosso, then Reeve, and now a ghost's salary. I knew I should have stuck to mining," said Barret. Marlene came over and gave him a hug.

"Aerith Gainsborough could sing Rosso's part," Lucrecia offered beckoning the Cetra to come over. "If you would, Aerith."

She meekly approached the group and then began to sing. All were astounded by the melodic sound that came from her mouth. Somewhere in the depths of the opera house, a figure lurked in the shadows, taking in every beautiful note which emanated from the girl's lips.

Once Aerith finished her demonstration, everyone applauded.

"I think Aerith will make a good replacement for Rosso," Cloud stated.

"Heck yeah!" agreed Barret. Aerith smiled and lightly bowed in gratitude.

"Now that that is settled, it's time for my ballerina's to rehearse. Gentlemen, off to the side please," Lucrecia said. The new managers walked to the side of the stage; Barret took his daughter's hand and led her off the side as well. Lucrecia directed the dancers on to the stage and monitored their routines.

Marlene gazed at the ballerinas with a sense of wonder as they leaped, twirled, and pranced in unison. She skipped to the front of the stage just out of their way and began to dance near them, moving about in a performance of her own, thus earning a few smiles from the dancers.

As the dancers were practicing, the sponsor, Zack Fair had arrived and had made his way over to where the managers were standing. He spoke to them about business matters and things of the sort.

* * *

Once the ballet troupe finished rehearsing, Aerith gazed around the auditorium and noticed Zack speaking to the managers. A huge grin formed on her face.

"What ya smiling about?" Yuffie prodded playfully.

"Zack." she replied.

"The Vicomte?" Tifa asked.

Aerith nodded, "Zack and I were friends growing up. We haven't seen each other in a while and he hasn't noticed me yet. I wonder if he'll recognize me." She began to recollect Zack's younger self and compare him with the man she was now seeing. This man was tall and muscularly built. He conducted himself with a no small degree of professionalism and maturity. Despite some changes, he still had the same black spiky hair and sky blue eyes as the boy she remembered.

"Why don't you go say 'hi'?" Tifa suggested.

"Yeah, I'm sure he'll be happy to see you again," added Yuffie as she playfully shoved Aerith towards her childhood friend.

"All right," giggled Aerith. She slowly started walking towards him and unconsciously began to fix her hair when Lucrecia called for her.

"Aerith, I need you to go over Rosso's lines for tonight. Oh, did you need a word with them," she asked when she saw where the dancer was headed.

"It's nothing; besides, I think they are talking about important matters," Aerith said.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Well they are expected to be at the performance tonight."

"All right, then I shall speak to him after tonight's show."

* * *

 **Hope you all are enjoying the story so far. There is still much more to come, so stay tuned. Reviews would be quite lovely.**


	2. Chapter 2

The show that evening had been wonderful. Everyone loved the performance and all especially adored Aerith's dulcet voice. Zack had watched the opera from box 5 which was positioned across from where the managers and Marlene sat. He was awestruck when he saw his childhood friend perform; he had never known she had such talent.

After the show concluded, Zack set out to find his friend.

"Zack!" called Cloud and Barret. He mildly sighed when he realized his quest was going to be delayed.

Aerith kneeled in front of an altar with her hands folded in prayer.

"There you are," said Tifa as she and Yuffie entered the candle-lit chapel.

"Have ya been down here all this time?" asked Yuffie. Aerith nodded as she rose and turned towards her friends.

"Your performance tonight was amazing, Aerith," Tifa said.

"Yeah! Where did you learn to sing like that?" chimed in Yuffie.

Aerith looked at the glowing candles in recollection. "My mother used to tell me that the Cetra, my people, have a special connection to the Planet and the Lifestream and that we are able to interact with spirits. I guess I managed to connect with one, an Angel of music."

"An Angel of music?" her friends questioned.

"I've never seen him, but I hear his voice every night. Ever since I came here as a little girl, I have heard him sing. He is the one who taught me how to sing."

"Lucky," Yuffie interjected, "You get to talk to ghosts. Maybe you can talk to the opera ghost!"

Tifa playfully rolled her eyes at her friend's last remark. "Come on, we should get to the main foyer. I'm sure everyone is wondering where we are," she suggested to Aerith.

The girls exited the chapel and scampered down the corridor to go meet the guests. A pair of crimson eyes followed their every movement.

Sometime later, Aerith retired to her room where a plethora of flowers welcomed her. She lay on her bed as her mind reeled from the evening's show. A knock at the door disrupted her thoughts.

"Come in," she beckoned.

Zack entered the room and greeted her with a bouquet of beautiful Dreamland Lilies. "For my 'flower girl.'"

Aerith shot up from her bed. "Zack!" She leaped towards him and embraced him. "It has been such a long time."

"Yeah, ten years is quite a while," Zack said as he returned the embrace.

She took a step back and scanned him from head to toe. "You've sure grown into quite a gentleman."

"And what a lovely flower girl you've become," he said causing her to blush and giggle. "Your performance tonight was amazing. I never knew you could sing like that."

"Thanks."

"Say how about we go on a date?"

"A date?"

"Yeah, you know. You. Me. Go out somewhere. Get to know each other. Enjoy ourselves."

"Sounds fun."

"All right. I'll get a taxi while you get ready, ok. Ten minutes?"

"Ok."

Zack smiled, gave her the flowers, planted a kiss on her cheek, and then left her to get ready. Smiling, she placed a hand on her blushing cheek savoring the sensation of the kiss.

Little did they know that their plans would be stalled, for a gloved hand had locked Aerith in her room.

Lucrecia, who was about to pass through the hall, froze in her tracks when she saw the Phantom withdraw a key from Aerith's door. She reached her hand out towards him. "Vincent," she whispered, but he seemed to take no notice of her for he turned and walked the other way. She withdrew her hand holding it over her heart as she shook her head. Despite her desire to pursue him, she thought it best to return down the corridor from whence she came.

Aerith looked at herself in the mirror one last time before she headed out the door. She wore a pink button-down dress with a red mini jacket. She donned silver bangles on her wrists and a red bow at the start of her braid. As she made her way to the door, she heard a voice from somewhere in the room call her name. She turned and scanned her room; there was no one in sight.

"Hello?" she called out.

No response.

 _Must of been my imagination,_ she thought. She took another look at herself in the mirror when she noticed a figure materialize from within the mirror. Aerith was both terrified and mesmerized by the being coming into view. She observed that the figure was a tall man and that he wore a long sleeve black leather shirt and pants, a tattered red cloak that also concealed part of his face, pointed gold boots, and a golden gauntlet on his left arm.

Before long, she noticed that the mirror had vanished and he had stood in its place. She could now clearly make out his features; he had long, disheveled, raven hair, a scarlet headband wrapped around his forehead, and pale skin which seemed to glow in the candle-lit room. Aerith became a bit unsettled when she looked at his crimson eyes.

"Wh- Who are you?" she asked meekly.

"It is I, your Angel of Music," replied he.

Aerith stared at him with curiosity and confusion.

"Come, I wish for you to truly know me," he extended his hand to her. She slowly approached and accepted his invitation.

He led her through the dim passageway on the other side of her mirror while she walked along as if in a hypnotic trance. The tunnels forgotten by the world above were silent save for their footsteps. Even the scurrying rats dared not to disturb the silence. Down and down they went, traveling deeper into the mysterious lair. After several minutes, the soundless, shadowy passageway opened into a room resembling a living quarter.

Aerith gazed around the room still entranced by whatever spell she was under. She slowly wandered further into the room. Against one wall stood a table littered with composition sheets. On the corner of the table sat a music box topped with a large moogle and a cheery cat holding a horn. Next to it stood a picture of who appeared to be a young Mms. Crescent standing beside an equally young man. A standing mirror stood along the same wall; the mirror's face cracked and fragmented.

"Welcome to my sanctuary," the man said breaking the dreadful silence. "I suppose I should properly introduce myself. My name is Vincent Valentine."

"Aerith," she whispered in response. She stepped closer to the table and picked up a red rose that lay upon it. Attached to it was a note which read: _To Aerith_. At that moment, her senses began to clear.

She dropped the rose stumbling back as she realized the situation she was in. _Where am I? Who is he? What does he want?_ Thoughts raced through her mind as her vision began to fade and finally she fell to the ground.

Upon witnessing her faint, Vincent rushed to her side and picked her up. He carried her to a neighboring room and laid her on the bed which resided there.

"In time you shall see my plans for you," he said quietly and then exited the room. He took his spot at the table and began to write some letters as he waited for her to awaken.

* * *

 **I do apologize for it has been quite a while since I have updated this. I ran into a writer's block and it took me the longest to get through it, but thankfully most of this chapter was already written before I hit the block. Hoping the next chapter will not take so long. Thank you for reading.**


End file.
